The promo text for Harlowe is rather sparse, but it sounds as if Harlowe is kind of a side project of four musicians. Musicians from, among others, Amenra, Hessian and The Black Heart Rebellion. Harlowe however, is not comparable to anything post metal or sludge. Nope, this seems an alternative exhaust for the lady and gents to vent some of their creativity in a different way.

If one needs to describe Harlowe in one word, that word would be “acoustic”. Of course, this isn’t Twitter so we have room for elaboration. The self-titled album has five tracks (total runtime about 17 minutes) that are solemn and mesmerizing, each in their own right. For example, the song “Providence” has an oriental touch to the percussion and scales, and provides an excellent instrumental, folky tune. “Here before” has a more traditional sound and feels very much singer-songwriter, except that it’s too… melancholy for airplay.

But Lucy’s voice is strong and beautiful and carries itself well over the entire album. The occasional piano is another great contributor to the overall atmosphere, which Harlowe manages to keep consistent from start to finish.

Harlowe’s effort is a welcome affair, inbetween all the loud and noisy music. Their strength lies in slow melodies: the spaces between the tones are the empowering factor. An album both transient and ethereal.